Livestock Matters - Winter 2015/2016

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WINTER 2015 ISSUE LIVESTOCK MATTERS 14
F A R M S K I L L S
The sheep lameness steering group
consists of vets with a passion for
sheep medicine, from across the
XLVets practices. We have had
various meetings throughout the year
via phone, email and face-to-face to
set up the initiative. We have come
up with a consensus of guidelines
based on scientific evidence to
ensure that husbandry practices on
sheep farms are optimised; which
in turn will help to reduce lameness
on a flock level nationally. We felt
that running a FarmSkills course for
our clients and local sheep farmers
was a good opportunity to talk about
the initiative and discuss sheep
lameness in more depth.
We held our FarmSkills sheep
lameness course in October. Being
the first FarmSkills course I had been
involved in, it has been a great help
that the FarmSkills team are based
here at the Bishopton practice, to
support me with training materials
and ideas.
The theme of the course was based
around the guidelines set by the
XLVets sheep lameness steering group
where we discussed the causes of
sheep lameness and current best
practice on how to treat these
diseases. The key message is ‘do
not to trim an infected foot’ – as
expected, there was plenty of healthy
discussion around a change to this
long-standing practice. The five point
plan for sheep lameness control, set
out by the FAI, supports this message
which states five fundamental points
to follow: Treat, Avoid, Cull, Quarantine
and Vaccinate, (see page 12).
In light of ‘train the trainer’ and
keeping people engaged, these were
discussed interactively. We started
with myth busting common statements
about managing sheep lameness.
Then went on to learn about the
individual causes of lameness; how
to identify lesions and treat individual
cases. After lunch we covered sheep
handling and discussed trimming
where appropriate. I purposely did
not do a foot trimming practical as I
did not want the onus of the course
to be about trimming, more about the
take home messages. To appeal to
the more active learners in the group,
things then got a bit game show!
With the help of our practice
handyman I made a spinning the
‘wheel of sheep lameness’, where
we discussed each point of the five
point plan areas when they were
landed on. Interestingly most of the
farmers follow these control points
without realising it. The day was then
rounded off with the XLvets ‘play your
cards right’. I was pleased to know
that the farmers had taken in what I
had been saying earlier!
I thoroughly enjoyed holding my first
FarmSkills course and learning some
novel tips on managing lameness
from the farmers too! The course
delegates varied from smallholders
to larger commercial shepherds; this
made it very interesting as they all
had different points of view and
experiences; which they all shared
throughout the day. There are plenty
of controlling FarmSkills sheep
lameness workshops running across
the country, so look out for a course
date running near you. I enjoyed ours
so much, I will be running it again!
Leanne running her lameness course Footrot
Shelly hoof pre trim Shelly hoof post trim
Sheep infected with footrot and CODD
Leanne discussing sheep lameness with farmers at
North Sheep
Identifying the causes of sheep lameness